A cylinder test using a rodent is carried out to measure motor functions of the rodent based on the fact that the rodent cannot tread on the wall properly owing to degraded motor function of a damaged body part.
A conventional cylinder test uses a transparent plastic cylinder with a diameter of 20 cm and a height of 45 cm to measure motor functions of a rodent. The test is carried out by counting whenever the rodent treads on the wall of the cylinder with front legs at damaged and normal sides and then applying the counted numbers into the formula (B+C)/(A+B+2C) or (B−C)/(A+B+C) in order to produce a numerical value, where A is the counted number at the damaged side, B is the counted number at the normal side, and C is the total.
To carry out such an experiment, a device as shown in FIG. 5 has been used. Referring to FIG. 5, a rodent 1 is placed into a cylinder 100 mounted on a base 102 in order to measure motor functions of the rodent 1. The device is devised to measure changes in the behavior of the rodent, that is, whether or not the rodent actively treads on the wall of the cylinder based on the fact that a rodent damaged in the right brain shows degraded motor functions in the left legs. However, the conventional device thoroughly relies on the changes in the behavior of the rodent and thus needs a long term experiment. In addition, individual rodents may create a number of variables. For example, during the experiment, some rodents may not move actively even with the normal leg owing to fatigue.
Accordingly, studies have been made to devise a device capable of causing changes in the behavior of a rodent by stimulating it to move more actively.